SDG&E’s no-win dilemma managed well, so far

U-T San Diego Editorial Board

When the heat soars, the winds howl and the brush fires run wild, as they did again this week in San Diego County, SDG&E finds itself in a no-win dilemma. If the utility does not cut power in high-risk areas of the backcountry, it risks starting more fires from its own arcing power lines. But if it does cut power, it risks putting people who are dependent on certain medical devices in severe danger, not to mention shutting down water-well pumps that residents might need to protect their property. This week, at least, SDG&E managed that dilemma about as well as could be expected.

Though most of the wildfires this week were in North County, SDG&E on Wednesday proactively cut power to several East County communities where the high winds and low humidity showed a high risk for fire. Nearly 1,200 customers in Lake Cuyamaca, Descanso, Boulder Creek, Julian, Pine Hills, East Ramona, Wynola, Alpine, Viejas and West Descanso were affected. An SDG&E spokeswoman said no such cutoffs were made Thursday.

SDG&E’s power shutdown policy was launched in 2008 in the wake of the disastrous 2007 Witch Creek fire, which was sparked by power lines buffeted by high Santa Ana winds, destroying more than 1,700 structures. The utility’s proposal for a proactive cutoff policy was met with a huge public outcry. The state Public Utilities Commission rejected the proposal, but also said SDG&E has the authority on its own to implement a shutdown policy in the interest of public safety in an emergency.

The SDG&E plan is hardly implemented without warning to customers.

The spokeswoman said the utility now has 146 weather stations throughout the region to monitor conditions. It also has prestaged crews that can make visual confirmations of windblown debris or other warning signs that a power cutoff is warranted. It also has developed a list of people in the backcountry who are medically dependent on electrical equipment. “We already know who and where they are and what circuit they are on,” she said. The utility begins notifying potential cutoff customers a day or more ahead of time, even sending SDG&E workers to those people’s homes to check on their welfare if necessary.

The spokeswoman said she knew of no instances Wednesday in which the proactive power cutoff put someone in jeopardy.

County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Dianne Jacob, a frequent critic of SDG&E, posted comments on Facebook urging SDG&E “to cut power only as a last resort and only if there’s an actual system failure that could ignite a wildfire.”

Good advice, perhaps. But probably unnecessary. The precautions SDG&E has taken to implement this program seem so far to be working.